Exodus Revisited
by IndustrialSoup
Summary: A more detailed, thorough version of the story of Slade as he kidnaps Ravens and uses and abuses her powers against the Teen Titans.
1. Regular or decaf?

"So, who are we looking for?"

There was a short pause while the boy wonder looked around the city frantically, taking long, deep breaths to calm himself down. Adrenaline pierced through his body when they were on missions like these.

"Slade…" He muttered quietly, almost to himself. "He's stolen… something."

"Uh, what?" The little green changeling asked.

"We're going to find out, Beast Boy," the mutant robot replied. There was a patronizing tone to his voice, which the green boy instantly picked up on.

"Dude, I figured that out."

The enthusiastic alien floated a foot or so off the ground, hovering behind the boy wonder. She had no respect for his personal space and her face was inches from Robin's. "Who are we supposed to be looking for, Robin? Slade or the object that is stolen?"

A bored, monotonous voice quietly crept into the conversation. "Slade wouldn't be that stupid to use the item as soon as he'd stolen it," the young woman said. Her eyes shone through the shadow of her hood. "Maybe he's somewhere, in his hideout, for instance."

But the boy wonder shook his head slowly, still deep in his own thoughts. "He wouldn't hide in a place that would be so obvious to look in. Listen, we've already wasted too much time already. Let's just split up and look for him."

Without even waiting for the famous command, the dark woman took immediate flight, her cloak flapping noisily behind her. The red-haired alien kicked her legs against the concrete road, shooting her in the opposite direction while the Cyborg ran south towards their own tower. The beast boy turned into a small hummingbird, his tiny feathers glittering in the sun for the millisecond that he was motionless in the air until he took flight in the only direction that was left.

The boy wonder was left standing in the middle of the city, alone. His voice rang in his own ears; he hadn't expected his team to act so quickly although it satisfied him that they were so passionate about their jobs. This Slade… this evil man needed to be stopped. Despite the speed his teammates possessed, he doubted they would get in time to stop Slade. Time was ever so precious in situations like these.

A small café sat in between two tall buildings on the road that Robin was standing on. He gave a routine check behind both of his shoulders before lowering his head and walking directly towards it. With his eyes still focused on the ground before him, he swung the door open and immediately grabbed a newspaper from an old shelf that hung on the wall to the right. By the mere lack of the scrunching sound a fresh newspaper would deliver, Robin knew that it was weeks, even months out of date. But he didn't grab it to read it. He made his way to the table nearest the window and hid his masked face behind it, hunching his shoulders defensively.

His eyes were locked on the street that lay to the left of him. He knew that with four kids on patrol, searching for Slade as if their lives depended on it, there was no need for him to go running around the city, losing his energy. No – the best thing for him to do was to keep watch discreetly and keep a secure record of his teammate's findings. What if he was running towards the west of the city when he was suddenly told that Slade was found near the east? It was best to stay put until further notice.

"What can I get for you, dear?"

Robin almost jumped out of his tight suit as a wobbly voice swam over him. He looked up from his paper, the rest of his body still hidden behind it, to see an old woman staring down at him. The pale pink dress she wore was covered in grey blotches and hung limply from her large body. Robin quickly stopped himself from holding his breath and leaning back in disgust, and shook his head furiously.

"Oh – no. I'm alright thanks -."

"Either order something or leave. We're not a library."

Robin narrowed his eyes as he fumbled around in his pocket for a few crumpled up green notes. He threw them into the woman's outstretched hand and hid behind his newspaper again.

"Fine. I'll have a coffee."

"Regular or decaf?"

Robin's newspaper shook from his impatience and his loud breathing was clear throughout the room as he tried to calm himself. "Any. I don't care." He spoke quietly and slowly, keeping his eyes locked on his newspaper. He read the same sentence over five times although not one word locked itself in his brain.

The woman walked off in a sulk, finally leaving him in peace. Not long later, when Robin was concentrating so much on the road that spread outside the café, a coffee cup was slammed on his table, making him jump again. He took a glance in it to see if it was worth drinking; maybe it would rise his energy levels up before he took on Slade, although he didn't like the idea of having a toilet break in between the fight. Lying on the surface of his drink was something that resembled a web, dotted with black dots. The obvious sign of mould and Robin wouldn't be surprised if the waitress gave it to him on purpose. He decided not to drink it and came to the conclusion that he'd be able to stay inside for longer if he let it be.

He had chosen the best newspaper out of the bunch; it was so old that there were holes where people had grabbed it and accidentally torn it. He could see more of the street that way and so it prevented him from having to look up over his paper. To make his job even easier, he took three out of five pages of the newspaper and threw them, scrunched up, into the nearest bin. The paper was so thin you could almost see through it.

As he turned back to slouch into his seat, he let his eyes roam back to the window where the most unexpected sight greeted him. He gave a loud yell as he fell off his chair in a pathetic attempt to jump up and run out of the café. He slid too far to reach for the table to pull himself up and so he scrambled to his feet, his boots slipping on the tiled floor. Slade had been standing at the window, staring at him through that one eye of his. His whole body had taken up half the window and it had shocked him enormously. It looked more eerie than it sounded.

As soon as Robin jumped to his feet, he began to run out of the café and for Slade. He turned his head from left to right, right to left so quickly that the city became a blur and his neck began to ache. But Slade was not there. He was nowhere to be seen. Was Robin's mind playing with him again? Was he so desperate to put an end to Slade's cruelty that he began to imagine that he was constantly following him? What was _wrong _with him?

He panted heavily, slowly edging himself towards the brick wall of the café so that Slade, if he was around, couldn't attack him from behind. But he'd looked so _real _– he even swore he could hear him laughing quietly under that mask of his! Why did he love to torment Robin, even in his paranoid imagination? As Robin kept a frantic watch out on the road before him, he decided to get medication as soon as possible, although the thought of a crazy superhero on medication was embarrassing.

He jumped again, his back hitting against the rough brick wall as a loud beeping erupted from his pocket. He shook his head fiercely, trying to pull himself together as he whipped his communicator out and flipped it open, ready to receive the call.

"Robin." It was the low, bored voice of his teammate. Raven; he often wondered why she wore a hood over her face; she looked more like a villain than a hero. He also wondered if she ever got cold wearing the stuff she wore. But her voice was shrill as she spoke through the mobile to him. "I've seen Slade. I don't know where he's gone off to but I saw him running towards _Jasdeep's Socks_. I can't -." There was the crinkled sound of a signal dying, but as the unmistakable sound of her communicator falling to the ground with a loud thud, he could still hear her shrill scream.

The signal went dead.

Robin was shocked and stood almost like a statue for a moment before frantically punching buttons, trying to call her back, although he knew it was no use. "Raven!"


	2. Robin! Are you OK?

"_Robin." It was the low, bored voice of his teammate. Raven; he often wondered why she wore a hood over her face; she looked more like a villain than a hero. He also wondered if she ever got cold wearing the stuff she wore. But her voice was shrill as she spoke through the mobile to him. "I've seen Slade. I don't know where he's gone off to but I saw him running towards __Jasdeep's Socks__. I can't -." There was the crinkled sound of a signal dying, but as the unmistakable sound of her communicator falling to the ground with a loud thud, he could still hear her shrill scream._

_The signal went dead._

_Robin was shocked and stood almost like a statue for a moment before frantically punching buttons, trying to call her back, although he knew it was no use. "Raven!"_

Robin frantically called the other Titans with his communicator, taking extreme care in pressing the buttons so that no time was wasted. He arranged the call so that they could all speak at the same time and hear everybody's voices – it didn't take long to tell them to meet at Jasdeep's Socks.

The team immediately rushed off to meet at the shop. Robin had ordered them to meet behind it – the sun wasn't fully raised yet and so the shadows would keep them nicely hidden, although it did prevent them from seeing each other's faces properly. When Starfire finally arrived, she enabled them to see more clearly with the green glow of her star bolts.

Beast Boy fluttered into the scene not much longer; he was the same, small hummingbird and it conveyed his true concern for the situation as he flapped around the alleyway before turning back into his green, human form.

"Where's Raven?"

"That's why we're here," Robin said through clenched teeth as his eyes narrowed. "I received a call from her about ten minutes ago. She said she was near this shop when she'd seen Slade running off somewhere. She was about to say something else when she screamed. And then the signal went dead."

The team stared at him in agonizing silence. Robin hadn't told them the whole story over the communicator and his impatience to tell them made it so that his story had come out in a slurred mess. Nevertheless, Beast Boy was trying his best to gather his words and pull his jaw back up from the floor.

"We've got to find her!" He yelled.

Starfire flinched at Beast Boy's outburst and turned to Robin for some words of reassurance. "I believe that is why we are here, am I correct, Robin?"

Robin paused as he looked into Starfire's worried eyes and Beast Boy's frantic ones – Cyborg had thankfully kept calm. It was his casual attitude that put Robin at ease.

"No."

"_What!_"

"We must continue to look for Slade," Robin snapped back at Beast Boy. He almost felt sorry for the boy – Beast Boy's love for his friend was appreciated, but not when it made him into a naïve, thoughtless boy. "We can't spend our time looking for Raven. I know that she can look after herself – Slade might not have been the one to kidnap her, you never know, if could have a friend helping him in all this. If -."

"No!" Robin turned back to Beast Boy, his once calm attitude quickly turning to anger. It wasn't as if he didn't care about Raven but he knew that even if Raven was in trouble, then she'd sacrifice herself so that they could defeat Slade once and for all. "We _have_ to look for Raven! I don't see how we can finish this mission without her – we're a _team._"

Robin glared at Beast Boy – he was fully aware that they were a team, but because of that fact, certain sacrifices were to be made. If everything went according to Robin's plan, if Beast Boy would only listen, then Raven would be saved after all.

"Let me finish," Robin snapped. "We can't look for Raven because that could lead us off our track. If we look for _Slade _then we could end up finding Raven. But for now, Slade is our main priority and Raven knows that."

Beast Boy could only sulk.

"Are we going off together or are we splitting up again?" Cyborg asked. Determination was plastered all over his face.

"We'll split up into two. I'll go with Beast Boy and you can go with Starfire. Raven said that Slade was running past this shop when she was kidnapped. If you find _anything _then you _must _report back to me immediately."

Beast Boy immediately turned back into the same little hummingbird and waited patiently for Robin to lead him into the right direction. Starfire lowered her glowing hands so that they lay by her side and she followed Cyborg out of the alleyway, away from the shop.

Robin watched them both leave to make sure that they were gone, although he couldn't doubt them. He knew that Starfire depended on having Raven as her friend, being the only other girl in the team. And Cyborg was faithful and extremely loyal.

He turned to walk down the alleyway but as he faced the darkness, he immediately regretted choosing Beast Boy as his partner; Cyborg and Starfire both had lights whether it was part of their power or installed. Robin and Beast Boy had nothing. They were stuck in complete darkness.

He moved towards the wall as Beast Boy rose into the air so that he could see better, although Robin doubted that was possible. He ran his fingers along the wall in case he came across a door that would lead to somewhere. He doubted that Slade could get very far with Raven locked in his grip; he'd have to go into the nearest place possible.

As Robin was thinking over the situation over in his mind and wondering what he would do next if nothing interesting came up, a small yet thick object collided in the side of his stomach, making him groan grab onto his stomach in pain. Beast Boy immediately landed on the floor and turned back into his human form, ready to comfort Robin.

"Robin! Are you OK?"

Robin nodded frantically, trying to swerve Beast Boy away from his unimportant wound. "I'm fine. I just didn't see…" Beast Boy's gaze followed Robin's and he let his hands roam around the wall until he came across a small doorknob. Beast Boy turned the knob, only to find out that the darned thing was locked. He tugged on it and pulled on it, but it was no use.

Robin released his hands from his stomach and shook his head – he knew Beast Boy's attempt at trying to open the door was useless. Superheroes, open doors? Even if the damned thing was unlocked, that wasn't the way to do it. No way.

He stepped back a few steps, taking Beast Boy with him, and then threw his leg at the door. His steel boots collided with the door and unhinged it immediately. It landed on the floor with a loud clatter and left the doorway clear for them to pass through.

Beast Boy transformed into a small mouse and scuttled inside before Robin, jumping over the broken door. Robin followed him quickly, trying his best to step over the door without making too much noise. Before he took a long look at his surroundings, he turned to Beast Boy so that he knew where he was. It was then that he noticed that Beast Boy's once green fur had turned navy in an odd, blue light.

Beast Boy turned back into his human form, puzzled by the light. "Why blue?" His head turned frantically to try and figure out where it was coming from.

"Quiet," Robin whispered. He stepped closer into the light, his eyes fixed in concentration. Beast Boy kept close behind him, keeping as quiet as he possibly could. Both of their heads were turning left, right, above and then finally below. They both stopped dead before a beam of light that focused on the floor.

Beast Boy gasped as Robin muttered angrily. "Shit."


	3. Raven was here!

"_Quiet," Robin whispered. He stepped closer into the light, his eyes fixed in concentration. Beast Boy kept close behind him, keeping as quiet as he possibly could. Both of their heads were turning left, right, above and then finally below. They both stopped dead before a beam of light that focused on the floor._

_Beast Boy gasped as Robin muttered angrily. "Shit."_

Beast Boy lunged forward, almost knocking Robin over as he did so.

"Beast Boy!" Robin yelled, throwing his hand out as he tried to grab him. "Wait!"

As Robin ran after him, Beast Boy threw himself on the ground in a kneeling position. He picked up the bundle in his shaking gloved hands and held it inches away from his face. As he picked it up, the cloth unravelled itself to reveal Raven's famous blue cape.

Beast Boy stared at it as if it was a puppy that had just died in his hands. He was speechless for several seconds. "Raven was here!" He blurted out suddenly, his voice echoing around the empty room. "She was here and now she's gone! We were too late!"

Robin knelt down beside him hurriedly and slapped his hands against his mouth to stifle his shouts. As he did so, Beast Boy's hands clenched together and the cape was crumpled in his grip; whether he did that out of pain or anger was unclear to Robin.

"Look Beast Boy," Robin hissed in his ear. "If you keep yelling like that then we could be in even more trouble. We need to think of a plan. Whoever took this from Raven wouldn't just leave it in their hide-out for us to find."

Beast Boy tried to turn to look at him, his eyes almost bulged out of their sockets they were straining that much. Once Robin knew he was calm, he took his hand away from his mouth.

Beast Boy looked at the cloak again, fighting for the right words. Robin knew this was hard on Beast Boy, but it wasn't easy on the rest of them either. He had no right to make Robin feel guilty, as if he didn't care about his teammate, his friend.

But it seemed that Beast Boy was finally finding some sense. "You said she'd seen Slade?"

Robin's heart missed a beat.

"Earlier, when I was at the café…" Beast Boy wouldn't take his eyes off Raven's cape. "I looked up and saw Slade staring at me through the window. It was the scariest thing I'd ever seen. I ran out to him but he'd disappeared. Five seconds later I got this call from Raven saying she'd seen Slade but I don't understand. She was on the other side of town…"

Robin could hear the cogs working furiously in Beast Boy's head as he still kept his eyes locked on the cape. He kept it securely fastened in his grip as if to let it go would mean the end of the world, as if his life depended on him holding it close to him. He didn't even let it go when he jumped a mile up in the air, shocked from the loud footsteps that were approaching him.

A tall figure walked through the broken door, the morning sun reflecting his armour. Behind him was a floating girl, her hands glowing with green orbs. The sun bounced off the metal man and mixed with the green light, creating a strange palette of colours on the floor and forcing Robin and Beast Boy to squint as their two friends entered the building.

"Starfire?"

"Cyborg?"

"Beast Boy?"

"Robin."

Robin stood up and stepped closer to Cyborg and Starfire. "What are you two doing in here?"

"Well you told us to check the place out, and we found this door open so we can to investigate," Cyborg replied.

There was a short pause while Cyborg and Starfire looked around the room, examining it.

"Where are we?" Starfire broke the silence.

"And what's that?" Cyborg asked, pointing directly at Beast Boy.

While Robin and Beast Boy explained what had happened five minutes ago, Starfire looked around the room. She hovered only inches in the air as she waved her hands over objects and signs to make them clearer, turning them into a light shade of green.

The room was empty, apart from a few cardboard boxes, half a dozen scattered sheets of paper and several broken bottles. Flying over the broken glass, Starfire quickly discovered a large light switch that lay embedded in the wall. She cast a worried look towards Robin, wondering if he would be angry if she turned it on in case it caused them trouble. But he was too occupied with the discussion to even notice where Starfire had gone. She threw her hands on the lever and used all her strength to push it down to switch it on.

The huge lights that were dangling from the ceiling shook slightly when the beams of light gushed out of them. It was obvious that they hadn't been used in years. The boys who were once absorbed in their conversation now turned their attention to covering their eyes, turning to Starfire in irritation.

"Starfire! Why did you -?" Robin started, but Beast Boy interrupted him and thrust a finger in front of him.

"Dude! What's _that?_"


	4. Starfire?

_The huge lights that were dangling from the ceiling shook slightly when the beams of light gushed out of them. It was obvious that they hadn't been used in years. The boys who were once absorbed in their conversation now turned their attention to covering their eyes, turning to Starfire in irritation._

"_Starfire! Why did you -?" Robin started, but Beast Boy interrupted him and thrust a finger in front of him._

"_Dude! What's __that?__"_

Starfire remained silent as Robin, Beast Boy and Cyborg slowly edged their way towards the edge of the room to gain a clear view of the thing they had been sitting on for the past several minutes.

The dark blue light that had surrounded the room had been quickly replaced with a dazzling white light. It burnt the teenagers' eyes, but as they slowly became accustomed to the new light, it became clear why the darkness had been a certain shade of blue.

Underneath where the cloak had been sitting sat a small circle. Thousands of thin, long lines branched off from it, making a delicate pattern around the room; it was an intricate design and no doubt had some deep, historical meaning to it. The design was black and glowed a creamy white around its edges. It was a sure sign of Raven.

"What is it?" Beast Boy stammered nervously.

Starfire leapt into the air immediately and moved so that she was almost touching the high ceiling. With her perfect bird's eye view, she circled about the room, taking in every view that met her eyes.

"It is many different lines and it is covering the floor completely," Starfire called, almost hypnotized by the beautiful pattern that covered the floor. "There is a large blank space in the middle of the circle in the shape of the letter 'R' – the rest of the circle is covered in long, black lines in a pretty pattern."

Starfire continued to float around the room, as if an answer to the strange picture would suddenly pop up. Her gliding through the air created a soft whoosh which was clear to hear as the boys were stuck in silence, wondering what to make of their situation.

Beast Boy eventually piped up. "Is that Raven's way of telling us something?"

Cyborg knelt down and poked at the black line; it did not waver nor did it recognize his touch. "Maybe… We just don't know what she's trying to tell us yet."

Starfire eventually landed on the floor next to Robin. Her hands were clenched together tightly, as if to let them go would be condemning her friends to a life time of this torture. She pulled them apart, only to place one of her hands on Robin's shoulder. "Robin, what do you think?"

He ignored her worried gesture and thought in silence for a while. "We'll split up into pairs again. I don't want anybody on their own though; we must stick together. Beast Boy, you'll go with Cyborg, Starfire you'll come with me. We need to find Raven and Slade and fast."

Beast Boy nodded enthusiastically and turned to leave the warehouse with Cyborg at his heels, but Robin called them back again just before they made it through the door.

"But," Robin continued. "So we don't need up like this again, we should contact each other every hour or so -."

"Dude, we're going to be at this for more than an hour?" Beast Boy hissed to Cyborg.

"Telling each other where we are, etcetera," Robin finished off, loudly.

There was a tense pause as the Titans waited for the famous command.

"Titans _Go!_"

Cyborg and Beast Boy dashed out of the door immediately, turning left as they exited. Robin took a quick look back at Raven's pattern before running out of the same door, turning right instead. Starfire zoomed above him, trying to keep up with the fast boy as he raced towards the city centre. As he ran, he took a quick look behind him to see that Cyborg and Beast Boy were running towards a well-known sock shop; it was a good idea to ask near-by citizens if they had seen anything.

It was a five minute walk into the city centre from their and could be easily seen from the warehouse too, but it took Robin and Starfire only sixty seconds to run there. There was a large lamppost that sat on the side of the pavement which Robin caught and stopped by to catch his breath; the city centre was the first part of Jump City to fill up with people and the more people around the better chance they had of somebody witnessing something that could help them in their investigation.

When Robin had caught his breath he turned towards Starfire to give her another command, but she wasn't beside him. Nor was she floating above him. He spun around in several directions, trying to look for her.

"Starfire," Robin called, frantically. Slade couldn't have gotten her too, could he? "Starfire?"

It was almost as if she had just disappeared. The city, although a few people could be seen mooching around, was quiet and uncanny. He could hear his own breath escaping from his lips until a piercing alarm rang through the city centre.

He almost jumped out of his skin and swivelled around to face a large bank. Two thieves ran out of it, their hands carrying guns and heavy bags overloaded with money. They were running towards a bike that waited for them outside the bank on the pavement. And as Robin noticed this, he also caught sight of Starfire. She was hovering above the bike with her starbolts gleaming furiously in her hands.

It was early in the morning; they'd been up for hours and everybody was tired. Starfire was surprisingly ill-humoured for once and didn't see the group of citizens standing in the wrong place at the wrong time.

They were the target of Starfire's starbolts.


	5. Got them

_It was early in the morning; they'd been up for hours and everybody was tired. Starfire was surprisingly ill-__humoured__ for once and didn't see the group of citizens standing in the wrong place at the wrong time._

_They were the target of Starfire's starbolts._

"Starfire!" The word threw itself out of Robin's lips as he frantically ran over to her. Blood pumped furiously around his body, almost deafening him in the process.

She took no notice of him as her eyes turned to a glowing green, the result of her enraged powers. Her hands were burning with her angry energy and no doubt covered her view of the unfortunate citizens; she could only see the thieves in front of her, hurrying onto their bike as they tried to escape the angry alien.

Robin raised his hands in a useless attempt to stop his team-mate from ruining innocent lives. She raised her arms up, ready to throw the powerful orbs. As Robin was just a few inches from her with his fingers trying to pull on her boot, she released them and sent them flying towards the thieves and the citizens.

The orbs joined together to make an even bigger orb and as it hit the ground just where the thieves were standing and panicking, there was an ear-splitting crash. The blow of the starbolts sent the thieves colliding into the bank's window, the glass exploding from the impact. The citizens ran out of sight, narrowly avoiding the blast. Without them to worry about, Robin finally grabbed Starfire's foot and dragged her out of the air so she wouldn't get hit with the glass that was shooting towards them. The glass hit them, but not hard enough to penetrate their skin: they were safe.

Robin looked back at the scene and exhaled in relief. It could have been much worse. He looked back at Starfire, perhaps even expecting gratitude, but she merely pushed him aside, irritated and annoyed that he had distracted her and made her miss her target.

She stepped forward and walked towards the bank. She realised, with great anger, that while they were shielding themselves from the glass, the thieves had run away. They were fast, you had to give them that; they couldn't possibly waste time looking for a couple of robbers when they had Slade and Raven to worry about. This thought only infuriated Starfire even more.

"They are gone, Robin," she whispered, although Robin heard quite clearly. "They are gone with the bank's possessions and you helped them."

Robin's heart almost burst as he gulped in horror. How could his best friend think _he _of all people would even attempt to do something as low as that? It was unthinkable. All he could manage to blurt out was, "Starfire, I didn't – the people… they -!"

Before he could conjure a decent sentence, there was a snap a flash that stunned their eyes for an instant. They instinctively lifted their arms to shield their faces.

As the light dimmed, Robin and Starfire lowered their arms and could see a middle aged man standing before them with a camera. An old fashioned hat sat on his long, messy hair that lay over his long, rotting coat. He grinned from over his camera at the two teenagers, satisfied with interrupting them.

"W-what?" Robin was dumbfounded. "Who are you?" The shock made him forget what was happening and he turned to Starfire for an answer, only to snap back to the photographer in anger as he recollected what was happening. "We don't have time for this – _move!_"

He pushed past the photographer but he was unable to stop him from snapping more pictures which emitted more flashes that followed them as they hurried down the street. Although Robin was trying to forget about Starfire's outrage, she was clearly still upset and was flying above him, her eyes set in front of her.

Even if it caused them to be behind schedule, Robin decided that they must look for the thieves – they couldn't exactly leave them roaming around the city. But it wasn't too important because the police would always take over. After five minutes of searching around the city for them, Robin decided that it was too much trouble for them while they were already in a difficult situation. Starfire landed beside him as he stopped in his tracks; she seemed to have forgotten about the incident earlier.

"I fear we will not catch them," she spoke in her usual calm voice and Robin sighed in relief that she was no longer angry at him. "Perhaps Beast Boy and Cyborg will have news for us?"

Without a word, Robin took his communicator out from his pocket. He opened it up and pressed the correct buttons to contact Cyborg.

A few miles away from Robin and Starfire sat a small spider on a brick wall. The morning sun showed the brilliant green fur off as the arachnid watched the half robot sit down on a bench, staring into space.

There was a quiet beep as Robin's request announced itself through Cyborg's system. But he was slow to respond to it for he heard flustered footsteps racing through the empty street. He accepted the invitation to speak to Robin but watched the two men bicker across the street. They were changing from a motorbike to a car, taking heavy bags with them as they did so. It was obvious that they were up to no good and they seemed totally oblivious to the two Titans that sat not far from them.

From his communicator, he could hear Robin telling him about two thieves that had escaped them not too long ago. Cyborg could only assume that these two stupid men were the very thieves Robin was talking about. Without another thought, Cyborg slowly stood up from his bench and walked into the road. Beast Boy followed him as a butterfly, and neatly perched himself on Cyborg's shoulder as he turned his arm into a large gun. He aimed it at the car where the men were sitting inside trying to start it up and his gun shone a brilliant blue. He braced himself as he shot a bright blue beam out of the large gun – it hit the car with a blast and dust and smoke immediately filled the air.

The green butterfly flew off Cyborg's shoulder and turned back into Beast Boy as Cyborg's arm turned back to normal. He lifted his inbuilt communicator to his face and with a smile, he simply said, "Got them."


	6. I was going to steal you

_He braced himself as he shot a bright blue beam out of the large gun – it hit the car with a blast and dust and smoke immediately filled the air._

_The green butterfly flew off Cyborg's shoulder and turned back into Beast Boy as Cyborg's arm turned back to normal. He lifted his inbuilt communicator to his face and with a smile, he simply said, "Got them."_

With a satisfying click, Robin snapped his communicator shut and turned to Starfire who was beside him, waiting impatiently for his report.

"The thieves have been caught," Robin said, walking past Starfire. Her eyes were glued on him as he paced around her. "But now we're even further away from finding Slade and Raven!"

"Robin, please do not be angry," Starfire spoke calmly and extended her arm out to touch his shoulder, but seemed to think better of it and drew back. "You are tired and you need the 'sleep'. You will be more alert to finding Raven, that way."

Robin's posture sagged as he exhaled heavily. He knew Starfire was right but he was just so _determined _to continue with this mission. But he knew that if they did continue without sleep and if they found Slade, they'd be in no condition to fight him. In fact, it might put them in an even worse position.

He shrugged in defeat as he turned back to face Starfire, taking his communicator out of his pocket as he did so to contact his other teammates.

He pressed several buttons and waited for Cyborg to pick up; two seconds hadn't passed when Cyborg's voice came travelling through. "We're going back to the Tower to get some rest," Robin said in his usual, monotone voice. He was disappointed at having to take a break. "We'll carry this on at midday."

---

The young teenager slowly opened her eyes. She couldn't see much as it was pretty dark so she sat up; as she placed her hands on the floor to help her up she noticed that it was freezing and instantly removed her hands from the floor. The sudden movement made her head throb in pain and she instead moved her hand to nurse her forehead; it didn't help her in her situation at all.

As she slowly became accustomed to her surroundings, she tried to remember what had happened and how she had gotten into this dark, strange place. She moved her violet hair from her face and arranged her hood so that it sat neatly on her back. The last thing she could remember was trying to call Robin through his communicator but something had interrupted her… Maybe that something had caused her to end up here?

"Robin?"

This wasn't good. She knew Robin wasn't here; none of her friends were here. She couldn't have possibly been kidnapped, could she? Well, it wasn't that bad then was it? She would simply use her powers to get herself out of there.

She stood up, catching her balance quickly as she stumbled from exhaustion. She forced her energy to fly into her hands in defense of whatever was waiting for her in those shadows. Who could it be? Who would want anything to do with her -?

"Slade?"

Of course… Slade was the one who they had been chasing after. He had stolen something very important and it was the Titan's job to stop him. So why had he kidnapped her? And if he really had kidnapped her, why had he just left her lying on the floor? Why hadn't he tied her up to make sure she couldn't attack him? Raven almost smiled; this was too easy.

Suddenly, Raven became very aware that she wasn't quite alone. Somebody was near her, very near. She strained to listen for breathing, but it was silent. It was too silent; she swivelled around, trying to find them in the empty darkness, but it was hopeless.

An orange light suddenly pierced her eyes, making her scream in shock and agony as she covered her eyes. She attempted to open her eyes so she wasn't so vulnerable but the light was too intense and her eyes merely watered, making her vision worse.

But nobody attacked her. Nobody even spoke to her; they made it clear that if they were going to attack her, then they would have done it already. They were patiently waiting for Raven to collect herself.

Raven rubbed the water from her eyes furiously and forced herself to adjust to the new light. She straightened her posture so that she was standing upright, and as she did so she came face to face with –

"Slade!"

Her gasp echoed around the room, bouncing off the walls. She instinctively took a step backwards but he stayed rooted to the ground, his single eye staring at her.

His arms were folded behind his back, making his muscles look even bigger than they really were. His armour was impressive, especially in the orange light. He towered over Raven but kept his head positioned straight, so that his eye was straining to look down on her. He knew he was scary and he made sure Raven knew that, too.

"Why are you so shocked, my dear?" He taunted her. "You've seen me a hundred times before, when I was defeating you and your pathetic friends…"

Raven scoffed and folded her arms; she tried her best to make it clear that Slade didn't scare her in the least. "You couldn't defeat a worm, even if you tried."

"We'll see about that," Slade hissed.

Raven's large eyes glared at Slade, pure loathing stapled all over her face. Her fingers began to clench and flex as she prepared her body for battle.

"Don't bother fighting me, Raven," Slade interrupted her. At this, Raven unfolded her arms and forced more energy to cover the palms of her hands. But at his next few words, she was inclined to relax herself. "You'll be here for quite a while."

Raven lowered her hands slightly. The energy was fading and so was her glare. She knew that if she attacked now, in her state, then Slade would have an easy time knocking her out cold again. Besides, if Slade was so casual about this, then maybe he was telling the truth. Maybe there was no point in fighting.

She looked around herself cautiously, wondering where on Earth she could be. It seemed to be another one of Slade's typical hideouts. In fact, it wasn't typical; the room just seemed to be going on and on for miles. Pipes were suspended from the extremely high ceiling, supporting the cameras that hung from them. They would be watching Raven at all times, and knowing Slade, if she tried anything funny then his robots would come and attack her. On the wall nearest to them, there was a large screen. It was taller than two double-decker buses and seemed to cover the whole wall, though Raven knew that was unnecessary. But it meant that Slade had set up cameras elsewhere.

A sudden thought hit her and she clenched her fists again as she remembered.

"What did you steal?" She yelled.

Slade's eye widened, feigning confusion. "What?"

"Don't play stupid with me, Slade," Raven growled. "The whole reason why we were chasing you around the whole damn city was because you'd stolen something!"

Her voice threw itself around the large room but she was so angry that she didn't care. She couldn't just sit here with her sworn enemy, pretending as if everything would be okay! And if she couldn't fight against him then she could verbally attack him instead!

But to her surprise, he laughed. His laugh overruled her shriek, making it sound even eerier than it really was.

"Raven," he shook his head as he patronized her. "Raven, Raven. I didn't steal a thing. I suppose that bird shit head Robin told you that, didn't he? Well he was very wrong." He spoke in a mere whisper, but Raven hung onto his every word. "I had not stolen anything… but I was about to."

"What are you talking about?"

"Isn't it obvious?" His voice grew louder as if he was tired that she hadn't figured out the answer yet, as if it was so apparent. "After all those books you read, Raven, I would have thought that _you _of all people would be able to figure this one out."

"Just get on with it, Slade!" Raven lifted her glowing hands to meet her shoulders, threatening Slade, though he shrugged it off.

"I was going to steal _you._"

The energy in Raven's hands dispersed once more as she cocked her head in confused.

"What? Me?" But it was true; it was obvious that Slade had stolen Raven. But why had Robin told them he had already stolen something? Had Slade told him to say that, or had he fooled him into thinking that, or was Robin up to something? No – that was impossible. Robin wouldn't dare lie. He was above that. "What are you going to do with me?"

Slade grinned underneath his mask; he was sorry that Raven couldn't see his eerie grin.

"We, my dearest girl, are going to wait until the rest of the Titans come to rescue you."


	7. Are you reading the newspaper?

_**AN: It's because of the reviews I've got for this that I decided to do another chapter. Although perhaps I shouldn't lead you on, as I'm a very busy woman now and I shouldn't be surprised if I fail to finish this completely ;)**_

_"What are you going to do with me?"_

_Slade grinned underneath his mask; he was sorry that Raven couldn't see his eerie grin._

_"We, my dearest girl, are going to wait until the rest of the Titans come to rescue you."_

It was Beast Boy who was the first out of the remaining Titans to see the morning sun. He'd had the unfortunate feeling of assuming everything is as it should be; perfect, as the beaming star looking through the large windows was, but reality had poured down onto him as he remembered the events from the day before. He had desperately hoped not to experience this feeling and he hadn't expected to, either, as he could only manage less than an hours sleep during the night.

Determined to concentrate on something other than Raven – because worrying does nobody any good – he busied himself by making his breakfast. He preferred to make breakfast alone in the kitchen instead of waiting for his friends to arrive, as Cyborg's usual lectures about his diet were often amusing to ignore or retaliate against, but he could not handle any banter on this particular day, although he hardly expected Cyborg to crack any jokes today.

But it seemed that today wasn't Beast Boy's day as he'd had the misfortune of opening the wrong cupboard door in his quest to make his morning meal; instead of seeing an empty, upside down glass waiting for his cold drink sitting on the shelf, he'd been faced with Raven's speciality tea. The tea that had once grabbed Beast Boy's curiosity (which had quickly been tripled due to Raven's strict orders that he should leave it alone) now grabbed at his emotions, and he slammed the cupboard door in frustration, having failed in blocking Raven from his thoughts.

He left the kitchen in a rare, furious mood, not knowing where to go. He couldn't go back to his own room – the place that had prevented him from sleeping the night before – and he even considered stepping inside Raven's room, although breach of her privacy was no fun without her to catch him, and also seemed quite immoral when he knew she was in danger. Instead, he went to find the daily newspaper. Perhaps he could read that and the words might occupy his thoughts instead.

He returned the kitchen several minutes later with the crisp newspaper tucked underneath his arm; he had always wanted to try this and now that nobody was around to bear witness to this experiment, it amused him to feel like an intellectual. Of course, the knowledge of the newspaper boring him to tears made it seem less realistic and the lack of a pipe and a pair of carpet slippers were also rather upsetting, but he felt somewhat satisfied when he whipped the pile of thin papers from underneath his arm and threw it open, the happenings of the city screaming out at him silently in black and white text.

He hadn't expected to see anything of any worth on the third page; perhaps Robin's favourite model, perhaps a comic strip, but not a relevant headline.

"Are our city's superheroes really as super as we think?"

The words bellowed through his mind, challenging his team's ego and power. Everybody had their own opinion, of course, but had it been assumed that they had _failed_ in a mission, simply because Raven had not been returned? It made Beast Boy feel lower than before, but he couldn't resist reading the article.

"Pictures taken by Steve Wilkes," he read, determined to remember the names of these finger-pointers, just in case. "Written by Darren Smith."

The photograph accompanying the article was from a different perspective than Beast Boy had seen it, but it was still of Robin and Starfire, the bank's broken windows scattered around their feet. Beast Boy longed to jump into the photograph, to use it as a wormhole into the past with hopes to change it and save his friend.

"We all thought," the article began, "that our city's heroes were doing their best to keep our city clean from the thieves and villains we cannot avoid. We _all_ thought they would sacrifice their own lives for ours. We all thought they could handle _anything_ and _everything_ because that is what they were made for, to protect us. Or is that just a false rumour?"

Beast Boy couldn't help but notice the journalist's choice of words: 'made for'? Since when was Beast Boy _made _to be a citizen's shield?

"Yesterday, quite early in the morning, we saw two of our own superheroes at the scene of a bank robbery. The girl, who is known as Starfire, was about to attack hundreds of onlooking citizens, whilst the thieves were behind the citizens, making a clean escape. The teen leader, Robin, smashed her into one of the bank's windows, smashing it, causing the bank to cough up a large sum of money to repair the window, and frightening several children who unfortunately managed to sneak into the front row of the audience gathering.

"Where were the other team members?

"Later on in the day, we saw the green boy and the mechanical man blow up a stranger's van for no apparent reason near the well known fashion store." Near to this line was a picture of Beast Boy and Cyborg, passport style photographs which were very unflattering.

So engrossed was he in this article that Beast Boy didn't notice his close friend enter the kitchen. Cyborg entered the room sluggishly, most probably having had little sleep similar to his green friend. Seeing Beast Boy concentrating on reading the newspaper and not believing his eyes, Cyborg crept up behind him, not wishing to disturb his friend's new interest. But Cyborg could not resisting from confirming this new revelation; he simply could not believe it.

"Are you reading the _newspaper_?" He stuttered. He was even more shocked when Beast Boy hushed him, leaning in towards the newspaper even more to ignore the disturbance. Cyborg placed a large hand on his shoulder to get a better look at the page, convinced that the only thing to get Beast Boy to read a newspaper was a comic or a game advert, but what he saw was much worse.

"Where is our joyful Raven?"

"It's an article about us," Beast Boy needlessly explained. Cyborg held in a gasp before leaning in closer to read the article in better view.

"Are they stalking us or something?" Beast Boy exclaimed, having gained all the information from the article he could. He had still been able to grow bored of the newspaper.

Too furious were the two boys that neither of them noticed their leader enter the room; he knew from embarrassing experiences with Cyborg what they were looking at, but the look on their faces were not what he expected and so he had no choice but to ask them about their actions.

"What are you doing?" He asked, pausing beside the fruit bowl, his beloved source of breakfast food.

Beast Boy was quick to jump towards him and he thrust the newspaper into his masked face, causing him to press his back into the counter to avoid a collision. But despite this accidental pain, he managed to read the headline of the intriguing article and he couldn't stop himself from swearing under his breath.

"What?" He yelled. He grabbed the paper from his friend's hands and skimmed the article three times, not believing what he was reading.

"Please pardon me," a quiet voice came from the door. It was the distinctive voice of the sole girl who remained in the tower, her female companion reluctantly having giving her the honour. She had been aroused from her nap from the boys' discovery, and when she heard people beginning to rise for the new day, she had eagerly jumped forth to continue the mission. "But we are going to find -?"

"Let's go, _now_!" A furious Robin yelled. The once inspiring demand was now greeted with thankful, agreeing nods, glad they could do something against this documentation by finding their fellow team member. It took the entire group less than ten seconds to leave their home and continue with their tasks.


	8. Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!

AN: It is purely because of the very kind reviews and such that I am continuing this. I'm a very fickle person, I must admit, and if I get bored with something then I'm less likely to keep at it. But when I hear of you readers enjoying this, it makes me so happy that I want to continue it. Thank you so much.

_"Let's go, now!" A furious Robin yelled. The once inspiring demand was now greeted with thankful, agreeing nods, glad they could do something against this documentation by finding their fellow team member. It took the entire group less than ten seconds to leave their home and continue with their tasks. _

"So... you're not going to..." The words were stuck in Raven's throat, unable to come out until she took a deep breath and forced them out. "Kill me?"

But Slade merely laughed, turning her fear into humiliation. "I have more interesting ways of defeating you."

Unable to clear her throat enough for her to speak, Raven was forced to keep her silence. Instead, she turned away from Slade, refusing to look at the repulsive man's mask any longer. Her folded arms, hidden by her dark cloak, was the only sign of her annoyance.

She began to ponder about the clue she had left earlier for her friends to find. She had been chasing Slade – in fact, she was so close, she could almost touch him – when he had spun around and brutally attacked her. He had taken the unconscious teenager into the nearest warehouse – empty, obviously – ready to exact the remaining tasks of his job, when Raven had awoken. With mere seconds left, she had seized the opportunity and left her eerie mark for the Titans to find, along with a spare cloak (apparently, you can't have too many cloaks).

Whilst in the midst of her thoughts, she kept her silence. There were very little options left, although she was desperate to try anything to help her in this situation, she was bound by the rules of the common vigilante. For example, the quickest way to get rid of Slade would be to kill him. Killing is easier than it sounds, especially when one has all the weapons to carry out such an immoral task, but killing Slade would bring no education to the man. He would never learn that his actions were wrong and, although he probably knew that anyway, he would never live to see the Titans finally defeat him. To see the victorious smirks of the Titans as they locked him up and threw away the key is an awful punishment for such a man like Slade.

And yet, Raven could not sit and take the bullet. She could hardly contain her anger, let alone accept her fate. She would fight like a man – or, in her situation, a dog. She would bare her fangs against the owner of the lead and fight until she couldn't muster another bit of strength.

And so, with her hands alight with her glorious energy, she spun around on one heel and focused on her enemy.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!"

Nonsense words that made no sense to anyone but her and her furious power. It concentrated on the target and, in a split second, Slade was swept from the ground and towards the nearest wall that just so happened to lie just under one hundred feet away.

But the attack was a mere tickle for Slade, who picked himself up and brushed off his shoulders. Underneath his mask, he hid a sly grin.

"Raven..." She could hear the grin manipulate his words. "Why bother wasting your energy on me when you know you can't _possibly_ win?"

"I can try!" Raven spat. Her defiance wasn't enough to impress Slade. He merely glared at her through his single eye as he took slow steps towards her.

Slightly intimidated by his eerie pace, Raven was determined to win him over, if only with her words. "Why are you doing this? If you're just waiting for the Titans to come, then it's a waste of time."

A laugh escaped Slade's lips, muffled by his mask, although it still managed to pierce Raven's ears like chalk against a board.

"After all the time you've spent with the Titans, have you really learnt _nothing_, Raven?"

Her energy still aflame in her hands, Raven showed hesitation by lowering them. She could now understand why Robin hated Slade so much. He was so... _annoying_. He was like a bully ripping ants of an insect. His riddles avoided the question when there was very little time left to answer them.

"Have you noticed: Brother Blood did not attack straight away? No... he waited and then he jumped in for the kill. Blackfire... well, she had a plan before she attacked her sister. These are rather bad examples as they both had a very large weak spot, which is why I took on Terra -."

"Don't talk to me about her!" Raven shrieked. Her anger showed in her eyes as the colour matched her energy which spun towards Slade, delivering yet another blow to his gut.

Having grown tired of his pathetic puzzles, Raven continued to shoot more of her power towards him. She didn't care if it drained her, just so long as he had a good beating, then she would be satisfied.

But it seemed that Slade had only taken one hit: as the smoke from her attack slowly died away, she came face-to-face with an incredibly close Slade, who took pride in invading her personal privacy at this level. Unprepared for this, Raven took a kick to her stomach which resulted in her being thrown to the floor. She clutched at the worn tiles with her shaking hands, determined to stand up and continue the fight. But Slade's cutting remark hit her senses.

"Your temper is growing, Raven. I suggest you calm it down before it gets out of hand... again."


	9. We need to check out the papers

_But it seemed that Slade had only taken one hit: as the smoke from her attack slowly died away, she came face-to-face with an incredibly close Slade, who took pride in invading her personal privacy at this level. Unprepared for this, Raven took a kick to her stomach which resulted in her being thrown to the floor. She clutched at the worn tiles with her shaking hands, determined to stand up and continue the fight. But Slade's cutting remark hit her senses._

"_Your temper is growing, Raven. I suggest you calm it down before it gets out of hand... again."_

The day had passed with no single trace of the Titans' beloved friend. The Teen Titans trudged back to their lonely tower, feeling emotionally and physically drained.

Whoever had put the television on could consider that task useless, as nobody sat and watched the latest episode of their favourite programme. All they could do was sprawl themselves about the sofa, half asleep, and attempt to think up a plan to save their friend.

Time was running out. Yesterday, the reason for finding Raven was mostly related to Slade. If they found her, they found him and if they found him, then their job just would become a whole lot easier. However, now their plan was beginning to fall apart: Raven was a strong girl, but what if she couldn't handle the situation by herself? What if she was in actual trouble? What if Slade had more dangerous plans in mind? What if he didn't just want to use her as bait?

Unable to think these thoughts, Beast Boy had worked himself so hard that he had fallen into a deep slumber as soon as he collapsed onto the sofa. The most frustrating thing was not having any clues whatsoever. Beast Boy felt helpless and a failure as days continued to pass by with no sign of his greatest friend.

And yet, even in his dreams, he racked his brains for ways of saving Raven. As an idea came to mind, it instantly woke him up from his sleep and he shot up, startling the other Titans into giving him their full attention.

"Bad dream?"

"Why did the newspapers publish that story?" Beast Boy demanded. His face was pale and tired, but the look of determination he held could not be compromised.

"What?" Robin asked, not in the mood for Beast Boy's ridiculous questions. "Just to fill up their pages for a bit of cash, I suppose."

"There was no point in that story," Beast Boy replied. This was... somewhat true. Every huge celebrity that became pregnant was splashed over the front page for the world to see, but a fight concerning the Titans, although once spectacular, was now a common event. It was the equivalent of posting an article about an unborn baby's kick. It happens: so what? "So why did they publish it?"

"Beast Boy," Starfire said. She sat in a rather defensive pose for whatever reason, with her arms holding her legs close to her chest. "You speak strange words..."

"Yeah," Cyborg grinned, going along with the unintentional joke. "You picked yourself a new brain today or something?"

Beast Boy merely replied to Cyborg with a glare. "I usually have a small glance at the headlines before I jump to the comic section in the newspaper. It usually has something regarding one of us but this article was less important than some of the bigger stories that were never published. Plus, they were talking about us on a more personal level. I've never seen them do that before."

Convinced that Beast Boy was rambling nonsense, as per usual, Cyborg attempted to shut him up by digging through the rubbish bin for the newspaper that they were discussing. He flicked through the large papers as he made his way back to the sofa.

"What does it say, my friend?"

"You want me to read all of it?" Cyborg asked.

"Yeah, why not."

"Hmm..." When Cyborg finally found the desired article, he shook the newspaper out, making it easier for him to hold. "Are our city's superheroes really that super... Pictures... by Steve Wilson – sorry, slip of the tongue – _Wilkes_. Written by Darren Smith -."

"What did you say?" Robin suddenly interrupted, clutching the arm of the sofa with his gloved hand.

"Written by Darren -."

"No, no. Before – you said Wilson. Steve Wilson?"

"Yeah sorry, that was -."

A slip of the tongue, was it? Most probably not: it was common knowledge to the Titans that Slade's 'surname', if you will, was Wilson. Now, although the name 'Steve' sounded nothing like 'Slade', Cyborg was exhausted, and the habit of saying 'Wilson' manipulated the word 'Wilkes'. A stupid mistake, but one that brought a whole new light on the situation. At least the idea was thrown out there to think about.

"What about Darren Smith?" Starfire asked. It could, however, be just a coincidence.

"He used to go by the name of Deathstroke!" Robin cried. His knowledge on the villain was quite astonishing, to say the least. His hatred for the man was almost as strong as Juliet's love for Romeo. "That's the reason why they're publishing useless stories about us! Its not two random people, it's Slade!"

How Slade actually managed to pull off such a feat wasn't known at this stage.

"But Robin," Starfire asked in her usual timid voice. "Who was the person taking photographs of us?"

"It could have been one of Slade's robots," Cyborg shrugged. "Perhaps with a little bit of make-up on?"

"We need to check out the papers a bit more," Robin ordered. An easier clue for the Titans to find would have been an advertisement on the television. It was a rare occurrence for Beast Boy to read the newspaper and if he hadn't, the clue would have gone unnoticed completely. "But we must sleep and regain our energy. I'll set the alarms to wake us up at dawn so we can crack to it."

Thus, the Titans left the newspaper sitting in the middle of the sofa, waiting for their researching extravaganza that would take place in the morning.


	10. That doesn't mean –

_"We need to check out the papers a bit more," Robin ordered. An easier clue for the Titans to find would have been an advertisement on the television. It was a rare occurrence for Beast Boy to read the newspaper and if he hadn't, the clue would have gone unnoticed completely. "But we must sleep and regain our energy. I'll set the alarms to wake us up at dawn so we can crack to it."_

_Thus, the Titans left the newspaper sitting in the middle of the sofa, waiting for their researching extravaganza that would take place in the morning._

One might think that a newspaper business might have a little more security. Any place of business should have some security. It would be rather odd to see a stranger simply waltz in and do whatever he likes. The only explanation to this puzzle is that whomever wanted to publish these bizarre stories must know somebody inside. Either 'know' or have the ability to _manipulate. _Which would Slade go for?

Surprisingly enough, this man has connections.

_Hynden's Watches. A simple store or does it hide a meeting place for villains?_

The pictures were, of course, taken by Steven Wilkes and the article itself was, undoubtedly, written by Darren Smith.

Beside the article lay a picture of the outstanding, highly recommended watch shop. Even printed on bad quality paper, this simple watch shop looked magnificent. However, the funny thing was that this shop, despite its humble aesthetics, was popular amongst the wealthy.

Thus, to write a paper about it would gain a lot of attention. To even accuse it of hiding villains was practically blasphemy. The uproar alone would grab the Titans' attention. Perfect.

The article, to put it bluntly, focused only on the accusation and the unfortunate fact that the Titans had passed it during their chase for Slade. Yet another 'pointless' article, perhaps.

"Is there anything suspicious in there, Cyborg?" Robin leaned over his team-mate's shoulder, stealing a glance at the provocative article.

Other than the accusations of the very famous shop and the random mention of their names, "No."

"Excuse me," Starfire invited herself into the conversation, causing both Cyborg and Robin to look up from the newspaper and to her. "Pardon me for my presumptions, but why would a national paper of the news focus on a local shop? The accusations aren't enough to warrant an article, are they?"

The best thing about Starfire was that she looked at things from a different perspective. An alien's point of view, quite literally. She brought things out of context and demanded them to be questioned.

"Starfire's right," Robin concurred. "Cyborg, can you do more research on this piece?"

Giving a nod, Cyborg folded the newspaper up and tucked it underneath his arm in order to take it to his room for studying. It was a long shot, but a clue was a clue, even if it was tiny.

"Does this mean I don't get to read the comics today?"

For his immature question, Beast Boy merely received the group's unimpressed glares.

Raven stared at the floor in desperate concentration. The tiles were grubby and ready for a makeover, preferably not _tiles_. A few dead insects, poisoned by a factory's powder designed for such a kill, decorated the old floor, like raisins in a cake. But the floor wasn't what interested Raven. She merely had to keep her head down and _focus_.

What Raven had was the superb ability to transport herself, whenever and wherever she chose. It was a simple task, easier than breathing one could say, to get herself down from the top of the Titans' Tower to the ground floor in less than a second. But then, if it was _that easy_, why on Earth couldn't she do it now?

Slade was busy staring into the screen of his computer. It was a rather large computer, to say the least. It was the height of three men, and the width of three large elephants. Compensation, perhaps?

Although they were very far apart from each other, despite being in the same room, Raven's voice was carried beautifully across the room. The acoustics of the room were perfect for such a sound.

"Why can't I use my powers?" The young woman demanded. Contrary to what one might presume, Raven wasn't as angry as she should have been. Her hood concealed most of her face, but it was easy to tell she had her emotions under control. The perfect attitude to control her powers, but then why couldn't she do so?

Slade took his time in replying. This was probably the most irritating thing about him. Not the fact that he had kidnapped her or somehow taken her powers away, but taking his sweet time to speak. Raven hated that.

"If you're not going to answer me -."

"One problem you have, Raven," Slade bellowed. His voice was so strong it could have made the walls vibrate. "Is that you always ask questions. Could it not be possible that it is your own fault your powers aren't working? Could it not be _completely obvious_ that you are inept?"

Such a slap in the face. "My powers worked fine yesterday!"

But Slade merely grinned and entwined his fingers behind his back. It was this action that made Raven debate on whether Slade had manipulated the room in order for her powers to be defective. If Slade wanted something, he got it. It wouldn't be too hard for him to get away with something like that.

"That may be so," Slade replied coyly. "But that doesn't mean -."

But Slade's patronising was cut off suddenly by a loud, harsh cry. The very sound pierced through Raven's nerves.


	11. You will answer my question

_"One problem you have, Raven," Slade bellowed. His voice was so strong it could have made the walls vibrate. "Is that you always ask questions. Could it not be possible that it is your own fault your powers aren't working? Could it not be completely obvious that you are inept?"_

_Such a slap in the face. "My powers worked fine yesterday!"_

_But Slade merely grinned and entwined his fingers behind his back. It was this action that made Raven debate on whether Slade had manipulated the room in order for her powers to be defective. If Slade wanted something, he got it. It wouldn't be too hard for him to get away with something like that._

_"That may be so," Slade replied coyly. "But that doesn't mean -."_

_But Slade's patronising was cut off suddenly by a loud, harsh cry. The very sound pierced through Raven's nerves._

"What was _that_?" Raven cried, turning towards the direction of the scream.

Slade said nothing and stormed backed to the large computer. Immediately upon his return, the screen switched from the previous programme to several live videos.

Unimpressed with his stubborn silence, Raven stormed over to him. She made sure to keep her distance from him – a rather entertaining four metres which, to anybody else, especially with Slade's anger and Raven's impatience, made them look like an old couple bickering – and raised her voice slightly to catch his attention. "Did you not plan this?"

The question was slathered in mockery, which was Raven's intention. Slade held his peace, unintentionally cringing as he heard Raven's voice pierce through his ears. He kept his eyes locked on his screen, his hands pressing into his desk as he leant on them.

"Why did that person scream?"

A better question would have been, _who_ screamed?

"Why are you even bothering to speak to me?" Slade laboriously replied. "Whilst I'm busy, you could attempt an escape."

Although Raven knew that she could not escape – one of the reasons why Slade had even suggested it – the reminder that she was a prisoner struck a cord and her retort came out more shrill than she had expected. "There are more important things!"

With a hidden eyebrow raised, Slade turned from his computer to face Raven, an action which made Raven take a hesitant step back. "Such as?"

But there was nothing left for Raven now. She had little hope for escape now that her powers had ceased and the thought of her clue leading the Titans to her was just too much to ask for. Now that she had nothing left, she had no fear. What was there to fear? A nasty beating? A requirement for a Titan was to learn to accept pain. To suffer a beating was, for Raven, the equivalent of being hit with a pillow.

So, what else to fear? Death? Slade hardly had the guts to pull a murder off. He claimed he had, but if he was that serious, he would have gone in straight for the kill and not put it off for so long. What Slade wanted was a toy to play with, not a body to deal with.

And so, with absolutely nothing to fear, Raven delivered a hard blow to Slade's gut.

"You will answer my question," Raven demanded.

Although he hardly appreciated the (in Slade's opinion, rather weak) punch, he couldn't help but be impressed by her determination. However, he did not let this show and masked his emotion with a glare that was infested with loathing and hatred.

"Your powers are not working," he said, straightening his posture, "because this room prevents your ability to use them."

"How so?"

"The water that is this entire room extinguishes the weak flame that is you."

Again with the riddles. Raven could admit that this room was as dull as a wet carrot but to have the odd ability to prevent her powers from being used? How was that even possible?

The first thing that might come to mind is, quite simply, magic. Some sort of spell that has been cast on the room. However, this isn't a fairytale. Extravagant problems can't be solved with an easy counteracting spell that some white knight on a horse might cast. No, this is reality and in reality, science is the only weapon Slade ever had.

Slade was somewhat of a pervert. He knew a lot of information about the Titans after years of research (it wasn't hard, the Titans being as famous as they were). But, in preparation for this huge gig he was currently pulling off, he had to think out of the box. Whilst concentrating on his homework, he had noticed that Raven had to put hours of effort into merely controlling her power. If she was distracted, her powers wouldn't be as effective. So, that would be his weapon.

But this room was empty, what could possibly distract her? The simple answer was an odourless gas that made Raven, completely unbeknownst to her, just a fraction sleepier than usual, and more inclined to daydream. To concentrate on her powers as she inhaled his gas confused her and the confusion itself distracted her from her concentration. She had been able to use her powers before because the gas hadn't crawled its way into her system. However, Raven's body was now filled with the gas, although the best thing about it was that it didn't harm anything but the mind.

To put it bluntly, Raven was a mere toy, waiting to be thrown to the dogs.

Meanwhile, Steven Wilkes, the rather irritating itch that the Titans couldn't scratch, was busy running into a shop. Average citizens looked at him with annoyance, as one usually gets impatient when a man has just pushed his way through a large crowd.

He ran into the famous Hynden's Watches, the surprised shopkeeper and behind the counter. Slamming the door behind him, he descended the stairs down to the storeroom where extra stock was kept. Why? That's what the shopkeeper wondered.

Khary Hynden, the manager and owner of Hynden's Watches, was also the shopkeeper. This was the only shop of his in the world, although he did send items to special customers. He had read the article concerning his shop, and, dismissing it as false printing, had thrown the paper in the bin. However, he was rather puzzled as to why a strange man had ran into his shop and burst through the storeroom door. He had security, but it was switch-over time. He would have to call them back to deal with this.

Pressing the silent alarm, he followed the stranger through the door and down the steps. The security rushed to the scene but it seems that Hynden had been underestimated. He re-emerged from the storeroom, slapping the dust from the suspected fight from his hands, and resumed his position behind the desk, shooing the security away impatiently.

Of course, this wasn't Hynden.

The stranger had burst into the shop at just the right moment. The Titan to visit the shop had been around the corner, out of sight from the whole thing, and had missed the quiet commotion. Hynden patiently awaited the expected visit and greeted Beast Boy with a broad smile as he entered the shop.

Taking a quick look around him as he made his way to the counter, Beast Boy came straight to the point. "You haven't seen anything suspicious around here, have you?"

His hands tightly clasped together in a polite position, Hynden replied, "Not at all."

It wasn't that Beast Boy suspected anything in particular, being the rather dim lightbulb that he was, but he had to at least feign such an act for protocol. "Are you -?"

It was Starfire's shrill scream that cut Beast Boy's words off, as well as the gun that was suddenly pointing at his face.


	12. Why is your face so familiar?

AN: Whenever I try to do a break, gets rid of it and so the chapter is somewhat seamless. So, my apologies for any confusion this may have had. I could try and fix it but I don't think it's that big of a problem. Instead, I'll adopt a nicer way of changing scenes.

"_You haven't seen anything suspicious around here, have you?"_

_His hands tightly clasped together in a polite position, Hynden replied, "Not at all."_

_It wasn't that Beast Boy suspected anything in particular, being the rather dim lightbulb that he was, but he had to at least feign such an act for protocol. "Are you -?"_

_It was Starfire's shrill scream that cut Beast Boy's words off, as well as the gun that was suddenly pointing at his face._

The shriek that made blood rush cold began to form into a word. The owner of the scream, the one and only Starfire, had seen the unfortunate choice of weapon before Beast Boy and so called out her team leader's name, albeit rather desperately.

"Robin!" The moment she had seen Hynden whip out the gun from his jacket, her vocal chords leapt into action. "Beast Boy is in trouble!"

It isn't too difficult to guess Robin's following command. "Titans! _Go!_"

No dawdling, no hesitation: the Titans, that is, Robin and Cyborg with Starfire flying overhead, rushed into the shop to their friend's aid. To compensate his distraction, Beast Boy was quick to morph into a bluebottle fly (everybody knows that, whilst a tiger is one of the most ferocious animals, the bluebottle fly is the most annoying and thus, can send the poor victim insane in a matter of seconds). This transformation into a tiny insect also allowed the target to be free of obstacles, and permitted Starfire to throw a shocking green bomb into the shopkeeper's face.

With his sight compromised by the attack, Robin took his chance and swiftly kicked the gun out of Hynden's hands, leaving him defenceless. In order to make him all the more submissive, Cyborg stood several feet in front of him, his arm completely hidden by the large rocket launcher that was pointed threateningly at the shopkeeper. The remaining Titans took their position behind the effective weapon, waiting for their leader to speak.

Hynden, having quickly grabbed his senses, stood pressed against the wall wondering how he would get out of such a situation. Anybody who had been in a similar situation against the Titans could have easily have told him that there was no escape.

Steven Wilkes was a clever man. He had done his research into the security guards at the store and decided that a slightly different face wouldn't require much attention from them. As long as he had the exact hairstyle and clothes, and perhaps a bit of make-up, the security guards wouldn't care less. The Titans, however, were much more perceptive and noticed this different face. Robin strode over to the shopkeeper and naturally demanded answers.

"Who are you?" His mask had conveniently changed shape to portray his furrowed brow.

What angered Robin was that he couldn't quite put fix all the pieces together. It was at times like this when he demanded the truth.

"Robin -."

But she was cut off by Robin's harsh voice. "Why is your face so familiar?"

His voice was increasing in volume with each word. Starfire could hardly make herself heard. "Robin -."

"Why were you threatening our team member? Are you working with Slade?"

Always trying to coax some relationship with Slade. Robin was determined to squeeze the truth out of this man, whatever it cost.

But Starfire had important information of her own. It was time to reveal that truth to Robin. "I do not think you recognise who this person is."

Robin whipped around to face her immediately. The very thought of missing obvious information that another member of his team had was somewhat embarrassing.

"Who is he?"

Swallowing to clear her throat, Starfire spoke calmly, despite her voice betraying her timid side. "He is the man we met less than a week ago with the photograph contraption. He is Steve Wilkes."

Meanwhile, Raven was having a less successful time. She had engaged in yet another fight with her captor and was failing miserably. Each time she picked herself up from the floor, he delivered another punch. Her balance began to diminish with each blow and the time between each attack became quicker as Slade was eager to force the prisoner into silence.

"You are foolish to believe you can take me on without your powers."

"I can try!" Raven spat, blood dripping from her trembling lips.

With which, Slade replied with a tormenting laugh. The sound itself made Raven cringe, and the fact that she was being humiliated made her even angrier.

"Isn't it obvious? The only way you'll get out of here is if you -."

But Slade's words were conveniently (or perhaps, inconveniently) cut off by a furious shout, soon followed by a loud crashing that sent the room itself shaking. Both Raven and Slade focused on the origin of the distraction, which was blossoming into a harsh bright light that filled the room up with a strange orange light. Adopting an old iconographic position, several people stood in front of the light, showing only their silhouettes.

And yet, Raven couldn't be fooled. She forgot that her enemy stood right behind her and allowed a small smile to grace her lips. "Robin?"


	13. Well, this has been fun

"_Isn't it obvious? The only way you'll get out of here is if you -."_

_But Slade's words were conveniently (or perhaps, inconveniently) cut off by a furious shout, soon followed by a loud crashing that sent the room itself shaking. Both Raven and Slade focused on the origin of the distraction, which was blossoming into a harsh bright light that filled the room up with a strange orange light. Adopting an old iconographic position, several people stood in front of the light, showing only their silhouettes._

_And yet, Raven couldn't be fooled. She forgot that her enemy stood right behind her and allowed a small smile to grace her lips. "Robin?"_

The light that flooded the room was blinding, therefore the intruders could use their distorted silhouettes to their advantage. Metal shards and scaffolding crumbled to the ground, traumatised by the forced entrance the intruders had created. Even if this wasn't Robin, at least Raven knew where the exit was.

"Robin?" To say his name would raise her hopes to the highest: if she said it over and over, perhaps the wish would become reality. Even if it wasn't them, the scene this disruption caused would no doubt grab their attention.

Both Slade's and Raven's eyes had become adjusted to the astounding light – filled with the exciting idea that her friends were truly in her presence, Raven prepared herself to use her powers again, but was bitterly reminded that they still didn't work. All she could do was sit and watch her friends attempt to take on Slade.

The front man, the one whom Raven presumed was Robin, took an elegant step forward, his features becoming more distinct as he stepped away from the natural light. Those who stood behind him followed his movements, keeping their distance and giving the man the spotlight. Behind his strong features, a cape billowed in the wind that shot through the gap in the wall. Such a dramatic entrance, such authority that this man had, one would believe it would send each and every criminal running for their lives.

"Titans!"

But not Slade.

"Go -!"

Unperturbed from the spectacular performance, Slade rushed forward, making Raven stumble in shock. His strong legs carried him across the room in mere seconds, his mighty fist clenched into a firm fist, Slade hurled a punch right at Robin's face, determined to wipe the confident smirk from his face. However, Robin was very much prepared for such an attack, and, whilst his other friends had dispersed and scattered around the room, he jumped into the air, avoiding the attack completely. The steel toed boots that boasted strength were turned in sync with Robin's muscled body, allowing the steel to have its complete effect as it kicked Slade's back, pushing him down onto the floor.

And whilst Robin was delivering this intense kick, Starfire had rushed to fly over him and when he landed on the floor, Starfire stole the opportunity and threw her acid green fire down onto Slade.

But Slade could only accept one hit and before another could make its mark, he had whipped a long metal staff from his convenient belt and swiftly reflected the bolts back at the young woman. With her arms held up in defence, she attempted to block her own attack but the strength that she had injected into them was too much, even for her. One hit to the chest, one to the gut and one to the head sent Starfire falling towards the floor during a moment of unconsciousness.

To avenge the unfortunate accident that Slade had caused, Beast Boy transformed his ivy green body into that of a tiger. He ran at full speed towards the evil villain, his jaws open, his teeth bared, ready to sink the bone daggers through his armour – but Slade used his gloved hands to catch the bared fangs. He turned his body, dragging Beast Boy with him, and brought him slightly closer, only to throw him back at full force into the crumbling wall.

"Stop it!" Raven was helpless and could only watch her friends' failure in despair. No, she could not do that. She had to do something, if anything, even if it meant her own pain. Thus, she ran towards Slade and threw herself onto his back, wrapping her small arms around his neck. His large hands grabbed at her in an attempt to push her off, but she clung on, refusing him permission to breathe.

Filled with agility, Slade had no option but to fall onto the floor, crushing Raven as he did so. She let go of him immediately and mourned over the agony that filled her body, mentally kicking herself for not defeating him.

Slade picked himself from the floor but was met with the threat of a rocket launcher pointed at his face. Cyborg relished the moment of fear his victims had when they realised they had no escape but Slade was far from scared. He merely pretended to make a move in retaliation and as Cyborg launched the blue energy from his gun, Slade ducked, avoiding it completely. Now that Cyborg was distracted, he could deliver a low kick, knocking Cyborg off his feet and rendering him useless.

All that was left was the Boy Wonder himself. Having given his teammates the chance to exact their own attacks, he was the only one left to finish Slade off. But Slade took him with a pinch of salt and caught the fist that was aimed at his face. Twisting his wrist and spraining Robin's in the process, he kicked him to the floor. It was easier than he thought it would be.

"Well, this_ has _been fun." Mockery dripped from Slade's voice. "But I really must -."


	14. How naïve you are

_All that was left was the Boy Wonder himself. Having given his teammates the chance to exact their own attacks, he was the only one left to finish Slade off. But Slade took him with a pinch of salt and caught the fist that was aimed at his face. Twisting his wrist and spraining Robin's in the process, he kicked him to the floor. It was easier than he thought it would be._

"_Well, this has been fun." Mockery dripped from Slade's voice. "But I really must -."_

The interruption was, to Slade, the equivalent of a fly buzzing around his ear. He had predicted such a move long before the fight had even begun and wasn't at all surprised: a leopard cannot change its spots. Likewise, Robin would use every bit of energy he had left in trying his damned best to defeat his enemy.

One of Robin's very few weaknesses was his performance skills. It was as if he was putting on a show for some audience, and so he couldn't simply go about attacking Slade quietly and get it over and done with. It simply wasn't in him to do so. He had to vent out all of his anger and frustration whilst he delivered his attack, and it was this mistake that allowed Slade to catch his foot, mid-kick, and throw him back down onto the floor.

"When will you learn, Robin?" He gave him a final kick, sending him flying towards the wall. An agonised cry escaped Robin's lips. "You cannot possibly defeat me."

Picking himself up from the dusty ground, never willing to lose, he stumbled slightly as glared at Slade through his mask. Slightly amused, and with plenty of time left to taunt the hero, Slade casually walked over to him.

"I'm quite surprised that you could find me, if I should be brutally honest. It took you long enough."

Enraged further by his remarks, Robin wielded his own staff, ready to attack Slade again. "I'm surprised you were stupid enough to make a dim-witted robot reveal all of your secrets."

But to his surprise and humiliation, Slade's laughter filled the room.

"How naïve you are," he replied. Robin could almost hear the smirk manipulate his speech. "That was all merely part of my plan. As you so cleverly discovered, the names that continued to make an appearance in your beloved newspaper were indeed related to my own. Don't you understand yet? I have control over _everything_ in this pathetic city."

Everything? Somehow, the puzzle pieces began to slot together, making up a very strange picture in the Titans' minds. Was Slade bluffing, or did he really have control over anything and everything?

Raven's eyes widened as possibly truths began to creep their way into her mind. She vividly remembered Slade attempting to teach her a lesson in how to attack. It sounded ridiculous, but could it be possible that Slade not only had control over his own minions and colleagues, but over other villains too? Was Slade the hard drive of a large computer? If they took him down, could it be that no other villain could succeed in Jump City?

"If that is so," Raven spoke up, gathering her senses and picking herself up from the floor, "then why did you bother dragging us all here? Why didn't you just get rid of us if it was _that easy_?"

But Slade continued to stare down at Robin, refusing to give Raven the decency to turn and face her. "You could do with a little more patience."

And remembering the cause of this entire mission, the very reason why they had been forced out of bed on a weekend, Cyborg joined in on the interrogation.

"What did you steal?"

Slade knew that he hadn't done too much damage to keep the Titans on the floor for much longer. He had merely dazed them for a short while, but now that they were all stirring, he moved from Robin's view and back towards his computer. His hands entwined behind his back, he continued to converse with the Titans.

"I hadn't stolen anything until, that is, I captured Raven. It was 'Steve Wilkes' – a mere alias of mine – who informed you of such a story. The bank burglary was a diversion so that I could get my hands on that valuable dark gem."

Slade was no doubt confusing. He clearly implied that_ he_ was Steve Wilkes, that _he _had performed that robbery and _he_ had attacked Hynden. How on Earth was that possible? Raven hadn't been with him every second of every day, but even so, how could he be in two places at once?

"Why Raven?"

"Isn't it _bloody obvious_ by now?" Slade roared. His voice echoed about the room, causing Starfire to cringe in surprise. He was tired of the Titans' incapability. "Haven't you noticed that she's too weak to attack me with her powers? That's because _I've stolen them_. I suppose you could say that I've stolen Raven herself and that's what you should have been trying to retrieve in the first chapter of this game, no? Now that I've consumed the entirety of Raven's powers, I can finally get rid of you annoying children once and for all!"

Slade's next move was more terrifying than the Titans could ever imagine. His feet separated themselves from the floor as Slade hovered several feet in the air. His arms were outstretched, similar to Raven's meditation position, and he lowered his head in deep concentration. He had no need for words of encouragement or complete silence. He simply needed a target for his new power to hit.

When Slade said he had taken Raven's powers, that was a lie. What he had merely achieved was preventing Raven from accessing them. He had effectively stolen the key that was once hers. After all, Raven's powers weren't something anybody could whip up. She inherited them from her home and only she could use them. Unbeknownst to her, while she was unconscious, Slade had fitted in a device that related the two together in terms of energy. One could say this was some sort of equivalent of optimism effecting a crowd. Or, better yet, a yawn. Or, better than that, a disease. Raven's powers were now contagious, but only to Slade. And because she was weak and dizzy, only him out of the two could use them.

This is why, when Slade's hands became full of dark energy, Raven screamed. Her body felt like it was being drained of blood. She fell to the floor once more and writhed in agony as Slade became more and more powerful by the second.

He lashed the energy at Robin first although he managed to fling himself out of its way just in time. Slade had effectively rendered his foot quite powerless and so he knew he could not dodge him for long. He could not run and so he only had his weapons to help him in such a situation.

Giving Cyborg and Starfire a certain command, this resulted in Robin's grapple hook flying towards Slade, closely followed by Starfire's bolts and Cyborg's beam of dazzling energy. But Slade counteracted this with a force of Raven's own energy and the two opposites collided and erupted into a large explosion.

This caused the Titans to believe that Slade had been hit by the impact and was weakened, if only by a little bit. But what the they saw then as the aftermath of the explosion faded away made all their nightmares look like mere daydreams.


	15. Kill me already!

_Giving Cyborg and Starfire a certain command, this resulted in Robin's grapple hook flying towards Slade, closely followed by Starfire's bolts and Cyborg's beam of dazzling energy. But Slade counteracted this with a force of Raven's own energy and the two opposites collided and erupted into a large explosion._

_This caused the Titans to believe that Slade had been hit by the impact and was weakened, if only by a little bit. But what the they saw then as the aftermath of the explosion faded away made all their nightmares look like mere daydreams._

Something strange was happening. For all the glorious horror the Titans had witnessed, this by far was the most surreal. Even for Raven, who knew the full extent of her powers, was taken aback.

A dark shadow seemed to cast itself onto Slade. It came from nowhere, despite the room being filled with light, and lifted from the ground to frame the man in all his glory. It didn't have a specific shape as a shadow usually has – it simply reflected the true destruction that Slade was capable of.

But this was no shadow and it was obvious because it was lined with Slade's favourite orange shade. One could say it was Slade's take on Raven's powers, much like an evil copy of a saint might be painted in red. Although unlike Raven's powers, this dazzling shadow spread fear and terror into whoever looked upon it. In this case, it was the Titans themselves.

Slade couldn't stop himself from grinning underneath his mask as he saw the look of horror on the Titans' faces. He truly wished he could savour this moment and make it last forever, but this was just the penultimate act of the play. There were many more fruits to taste.

The gathered energy grew until all that was left in the Titans vision was a dark body of evil. And then, before any of them could react, it rushed into Slade, who accepted it with complete eagerness and, wielding it in his own two hands, he threw it directly at Robin.

Too shocked to move by the terrifying display that Slade had provided, Robin had no choice but to accept the hit. Orange and black lightning hurled at Robin, the very speed of it ripping through the air filled the room with screeches. He barely had enough time to cover his face with his arms.

Should a doctor ask a patient what their pain is like, naturally it would be difficult to describe it. Even if they were writhing on the floor in agony, to name the physical feeling would be practically impossible. All they would be able to do is bring it into layman's terms with perhaps a few metaphors hastily thrown in.

That is why I find it difficult to explain the excruciating torture that Robin suffered at the moment when the shadow hit his body at full force. It pierced through his entire being and the dregs of it spread to hit the remaining Titans who attempted – and failed – to beat it off as best they could.

But this energy didn't kill Robin. Far from it: Slade knew before he had pulled the trigger that he merely wanted to cause a bruise. To put an end to Robin's amusing superhero antics was like turning an excellent blockbuster off before it had time to finish. Slade relished the screams that erupted from the Boy Wonder and couldn't wait to hear him beg for mercy.

But the only Titan that Slade hadn't hit was Raven. Why would he bother wasting his time on her? She was useless: a mere human in this room. He was even ten feet in the air now, so she had little chance of striking him.

All she could do was watch as her friends perished. That would be her torture.

"Robin!"

She shrieked as her friend fell to the floor in defeat. His body shook from the aftermath of the pain. Slade's laughter barely reached his ears. Even as Raven raced over and grabbed his hand in an attempt to reassure him and give him some form of support, he was barely aware of her presence.

This was the last stand. This was all that Raven could take. She took a quick look at her friends who were suffering from the hits that they had been forced to take. The sad truth of the capability of her powers was enough to make her blood boil. She had no choice but to put everything she had into claiming back her powers. Gaining control over them was never an easy thing, as she well knew, but she would rather die than let this go on any further.

"Do you seriously think this is funny?" Raven yelled at the top of her voice, forcing Slade to focus on her. "We've shut you up more than enough times, now that you finally get the chance to scream into our ears, you think you're the greatest thing this world has to offer?"

She didn't care if Slade spat her own powers at her after this. She would do everything she could to beat him.

"It's a little pathetic of an old man to feel so powerful after defeating a bunch of children, don't you think? And don't you feel a little cheated that you had to _steal my_ _powers_ in order to get rid of us? Is that seriously the only way you can win?"

To speak to Slade in this manner is never a good thing, but the adrenaline pumping through Raven's veins couldn't stop her whatsoever. Furious energy gathered in his hands as he glared at Raven, despising the words that screamed through her lips.

"So what will you do after this? Face it, you are _nothing_ without us. The feeling of losing to your younger enemies is some freakish gratification for you: you _thrive_ from it. That's why you relish the taste of seeing us suffer without finishing us off! You don't have the guts to kill us!"

Slade's only visible eye widened in disgust, bloodshot and manic from the disgusting truth that was being thrown in his face.

"Even now, you choose to listen to me explain the facts to you when you could have killed me minutes ago!"

The energy that Slade clutched in his gloved hands began to bubble with hatred and anger. He would not tolerate this.

"So prove me wrong! Kill me already!"

His chest heaving, his arms outstretched and his hands glowing, Slade would not let the opportunity to teach this brat a lesson pass.

"I said, _kill me_!"

Robin was nothing to him anymore. He had previously decided to let Raven mourn for the loss of her friends but he would not allow her to believe she was right. Perhaps he would let the other Titans suffer from her death. Raven's death alone would result in a terrible fear that would scar them forever. After this, nobody would dare speak back to him again.

And so, he thrust all of the power that he had collected over the past week and shot it at the young teenager who stood in his way. The energy was so overwhelming that it coated the entirety of the room, leaving no space for natural light to make its mark. It swallowed up all of Slade's precious belongings that had allowed his plan to work. It covered Slade himself from the view of the Titans and all that he could see was the black and orange colours of the energy battle before him.

The power was enough to kill them all. Nothing could stop it: even Slade had been so driven by anger that he didn't care if it put an end to himself. He knew the damage it would have on Jump City would be enough to satisfy him. This was the end. This was the climax of his brilliant plan.

But he forgot that these weren't his powers. They were Raven's and like a dog running back to its master, Raven had the ability to call them back. Her eyes shone fiercely as she faced the power that ran towards her and caught them. She didn't need to hold up her hands or make a show of it: all she had to do was concentrate.

The energy stopped mere inches before her. Her body shook from the weight and strain of it but she was too focused to stop. She gathered the energy into a small cluster and in a matter of seconds, she threw it back at Slade who was still hovering in the air. He didn't have time to react.

The energy pierced through his heart, making him endure ten times the pain that Robin had suffered. His armour clashed with the power and increased the pain. The sheer size of this punishment caused the energy to release a scream that made Slade's screams inaudible to the Titans.

Even when Slade fell to the floor, unconscious and defeated, he was still suffering from intense pain. This pain would last like an untreatable disease, forever tormenting his body. In effect, what he had planned to do to the Titans had been thrown back at him tenfold.

"Is he dead?"

Raven shook her head.

She had what it took to kill Slade. She could have murdered him over and over, but her moral ethics naturally overruled such an act and death was the easy way out for such a man. This was the best punishment that she could have delivered. This is what he deserved.

"But what if he comes back?" The uncertainty in Beast Boy's voice wasn't enough to make Raven think twice. She had finished the task and in doing so, made sure it would never be repeated.

"He won't," Robin's assurance echoed that of Raven's. "And if he does, he won't stand a chance."

"But," the Titans began to gather in a small cluster, looking down upon the pathetic villain with disdain. He was clearly out of it, but his body still shook from the pain. Starfire was as unconvinced as Beast Boy. "But what if he does come back? He is no ordinary man. What if he manages to steal more than just your powers next time?"

It was unlikely that Slade would be able to pull of a bigger gig than this, but the thought of him making a comeback with much more in store drained the blood from Raven's face and sent a shiver down her spine. It was more than she could bear.

So, she forced it out of her mind. To still fear what Slade may or may not be capable of would have meant that he had won anyway, even if the picture wasn't painted that way.

Raven would not let him win, no matter the cost.

_AN: Thank you to everybody who read this. Your reviews inspired me to finish it and I greatly appreciate your feedback and critiques. _


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